Over the past couple of weeks, Mike and I have been doing a lot of thinking about what we need. By that, I mean what we need to feel happy, healthy, and settled. More…

The last few weeks have been pretty stressful. Before we received Mike’s diagnosis, we were navigating a labyrinth of medical appointments and tests. Before that, we were (like good academics) diligently researching his symptoms,…

One of the big themes I address on this blog is transition. Throughout our lives, we all have to make changes. Some of those changes we choose: to get married, follow new career paths,…

At the end of this past semester, I knew it was time to downsize my digital life. Facebook had become so toxic that I’d lost faith in humankind. Twitter wasn’t much better (although its…

Are you thinking about going back to college? Maybe you started at 18 but got sidetracked by one of life’s many unexpected turns. Maybe you didn’t start at all, but now you’d like a…

Summer is my favorite time of year for reading. I’m a fairly voracious reader all year round–as an English professor, it’s part of my job description–but summer reading always feels different to me. I’m…

One of the great things about having adult children is the ability to view your parenting in retrospect, knowing how things turned out. At this point, my kids are 21 and almost-24 years old;…